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JULY 16-17, 2011
Volume 10 Issue 209
Santa Monica Daily Press
WHAT LOCALS ARE DOING TO AVOID ‘CARMAGEDDON’ SEE PAGE 5
We have you covered
THE WHO KNOWS WHAT TRAFFIC WILL BE LIKE ISSUE
Are cell phones, smart meters creating dangers Medical world uncertain about health impact of wi-fi devices BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL Our modern world contains many new devices that provide convenience and luxury, but could they be making us sick? That’s a question confronted by Elizabeth Barris, a former Santa Monica resident who has been on a quest to raise awareness about electronics that most take for granted, and the potentially hazardous risks they might pose. Full disclosure: The medical community SEE WIRELESS PAGE 10
Affordable housing program brings a Santa Monican home BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
BICKNELL AVENUE Each year, City Hall’s Housing Division reports out on the number of affordable units it helped create within Santa Monica over the previous reporting period. The numbers over the past five years have varied, sometimes topping 200 and occasionally sinking as low as 28, as it did in the 2005-06 fiscal year. Rarely, however, is there so small a showing as the most recent report, which suggested the division got the ball rolling on only 13 units of affordable housing as a part of Santa Monica’s efforts, and this despite City Hall’s authority to build over 1,000 units. The report, available on the City Council website as an information item, doesn’t tell quite the whole story, and for a number of reasons, said Jim Kemper, housing administrator with City Hall. Numerically, the units of housing produced varies depending on when the financSEE HOUSING PAGE 8
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WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN: 1980s pop star band The Bangles perform for a packed pier and beach during the second week of the 27th annual Twilight Dance Series hosted by the Santa Monica Pier on Thursday night.
New season brings change to pier concerts BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD
eclectic bands alike to share in the free concert’s ambiance. Perhaps no year, however, has seen the changes to the fundamental structure of the series as 2011, alterations in the composition and execution of the event that, organizers hope, aren’t palpable to the average attendee. The biggest change is the departure of King and Company, the firm that has not only produced the event since its beginning, but deserves some credit for creating the concept in the first place. Three firms bid for the opportunity to produce the series — King and Co., Rum & Humble and Cary Sullivan. “The committee analyzed them and all three [applicants] were very qualified,” said Steve Gibson, the interim executive director for the Pier Restoration Corporation (PRC), the nonprofit that manages and markets the historic landmark. There was a large difference in price,
Daily Press Staff Writer
SM PIER Thursday nights at the Santa Monica Pier, as the warm summer sun shines a ruddy gold in the evening sky, thousands of people begin streaming into a large parking lot on the south side of the edifice. Their destination, a large stage set up against the edge of the pier. Below, even more people sit on towels and blankets on the sand between carefully constructed rows of cones, looking up attentively toward the stage, waiting for the music to begin. They’ve come to see one of 10 shows that comprise the Twilight Dance Series, a 27-year tradition in Santa Monica dating back to when the iconic pier was a broken shadow of its current self, and the event raised funds to bring it back to life. In that time, the series has grown in size and scope, welcoming popular and wildly
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Gibson said. That wasn’t the only problem, however. “When it came time to sign the contract, there was no money,” said Katharine King, president of King and Co., which produced the series from its inception. “I wouldn’t sign a contract where I would have to negotiate with artists not knowing if there would be money down the road.” That was in February. Part of the hiccup was another underlying change in the series, namely how it would be funded. This was the first year that the PRC did not have to go to City Hall to ask for money, said Jim Harris, deputy director of the PRC and pier historian. Instead, the PRC brought on consultant Craig Hoffman to seek out big name donors, called “partners,” to help fund the SEE TDS PAGE 7
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